County jails will be competing for the about $500 million from Governor Jerry Brown’s 2015-2016 budget proposal allotted to the latest round of facilities funding to help offset the effects of California realignment, aka AB 109. Although the state has provided about $1.7 billion for new jail construction — $1.2 billion from AB 900 and $500 million from SB 1022 — since AB 109 was passed in 2011, not all of the counties needing help have received jail construction funding. One of those counties is Mendocino County in Northern California.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials announced recently that mentally ill inmates in the state’s prison system will now receive more humane treatment. The state filed a new policy earlier this month to allow mentally ill inmates to participate in counseling after an incident as opposed to receiving extended sentences or being sent directly to isolation cells.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) along with the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges have recently come to an agreement to allow more and more current prisoners the ability to acquire academic certificates, degrees and credits, which will in most cases transfer over to a four-year university atmosphere.

Following a 4-1 vote by the San Mateo County Board of Directors, Maguire Correctional Facility will undergo more than $5 million in safety renovations and improvements. The upgrades will help to integrate video visitation and will include an overall systems modernization.

The Metropolitan King County Council voted 7-0 Monday to approve a $154 million contract with Seattle-based Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company, to construct the Children and Family Justice Center (CFJC) in Seattle.

A new 317,000-square-foot housing facility is being constructed at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Complex, located in the San Diego community of Otay Mesa. Construction broke ground in April 2014, and the project is slated for completion in 2016.

Construction on the 1,626-bed East County Detention Center (ECDC) in Indio is currently awaiting final approval from the Office of the California State Fire Marshal, which has had the jail plans since early last year.